Chelsea International Hostel — Hotel in New York

I want to preface this review by stating that I am an avid backpacker and have traveled extensively and internationally over the past 15 years and stayed at hundreds of hostels, pensions, and dorm-style accommodations. I decided to extend my stay in NYC by two and a half more days before returning home to the Seattle area. I made my way down from my original hostel accommodation in Midtown to Chelsea for the final two nights. I did this in order to get away from the intensity of Times Square and explore the area around NYU where I am looking at PhD programs. When I arrived at the location I was pleased by the location being relatively calm, safe, and access to transportation. However, this is where anything that I have positive to say about Chelsea International Hostel ends.

I investigated all my options before booking the room for two nights and saw that the hostel would allow me to use a locker for $5.00 a day before check in to store my backpack. To be frank, I have never personally encountered this at any other hostel that I have ever stayed, however this is a small fee to be able to explore the city and was more affordable than using Luggage Hero (which I ended up using and highly recommend). Upon arriving at the Chelsea International Hostel, I found the entrance to the hostel and made my way up the extremely steep steps to check-in. When I arrived to the Chelsea International Hostel their was nobody attending the front desk, which I have never experienced at any other hostel location that I have ever stayed. In fact, there was no way to even ring, page, or make my appearance known.

It was raining rather hard upon my arrival and not knowing the area, I decided to wait. I waited for almost a half an hour before another hostel guest arrived with their belongings to store before check-in began at 3:00pm. Shortly after the other guests arrival, a surly and gruff man appeared huffing his way up the stairwell yelling at me that check-in was not until 3:00pm and that we had to leave. I explained that I wanted to store my bag for the next few hours and the man told me to wait. The man stunk of cigarettes and I could tell that he was irritated that there were guests with needs waiting to be attended. The man begrudgingly continued to say "hold on", "wait" and was huffing up am complete storm.

The man then slapped down a piece of paper, which he did not explain, and told me to sign it. I began to ask a couple of questions, and he became completely unprofessional. That is the only way that I can explain the whole interaction from this point forward. I tried handing him my ID because at every single other hostel that I have stayed requires this for safety and security of the guests and he yelled at me and said "I don't need that". I asking him a couple other questions, to no avail, and handed him my credit card, to which he yelled at me, and stated they only took cash, and to read the paper I was to sign. I know New Yorkers are blunt and have a rough façade. However, there is no place for that in a professional environment, and one of hospitality to boot. At that point I was done. Done!

I left, went to a nearby café, and booked a hotel on the Lower East Side which was the best decision that I have ever made while traveling.

My Three Main Concerns:

1. An open building with nobody attending to the desk. Anyone could have walked into the guest area unannounced.
2. The man who checked me in was completely unprofessional and I did not feel safe.
3. The website says nothing of $5.00 IN CASH to rent the locker and they do not need an ID to store the baggage which is a complete security threat.

I do not recommend The Chelsea International Hostel if you are staying in the Chelsea, Greenwich Village, or NYU area. In fact, I do not recommend to stay with them no matter where your activities in New York City lead you. It is however worth exploring the many other excellent options in the area. If it is during off season, you likely can find a good to excellent accommodation or hotel for around $30 to $40 dollars...

DO NOT BOOK HERE! Honest review:

Hard and uncomfortable beds. Could feel all the springs in my back and was incredibly loud every time you rolled over. Bright flood lights shining in through window all night, every night. As well as it was a passageway so often the sensor light went on. Radiator made a loud banging, gurgling and hissing noises all night long - not over exaggerating this one it was awful and even ear plugs didn’t drown out the noise. The banging was consistent throughout night and the gurgling happened every 5-10 minutes. Very little assistance from hostel staff (one bloke in particular) when we asked about the noise, he basically just told us to get over it. If you arrive before 3pm (check in) the staff are a bit hostile about the whole thing (definitely no room to check in early). The guy told us it was $5USD for each suitcase to be held in a locker and we had to buy a $10 lock. They consistently have a sign up saying credit card machine broken and you have to pay in cash - other reviews said this too (seems a dodgy tax evasion) so we paid the $800USD cash Finally, when checking out, we had left some food in the common room fridge as we were leaving early for the airport. I asked if I could go grab it but the door was locked. I know there was a sign that said no access to the common area from 11pm - 7am, but I thought I could just go grab the food as the fridge was in the hallway and no rooms nearby. Apparently it was “for security” and that they didn’t have a key. Which doesn’t really make sense so we had to leave our large amount of food which was a massive waste. The cleaners enter your room during the day using their own key which is fine but we weren’t notified of this on check in. The first two nights was sweltering hot (you can’t adjust room temp) and then last four nights was freezing cold and they only give you a think blanket and sheet.

The only positive about this place is a cheaper price and a good location (approx 20-30 min walk to Times Square), though my partner and I regret going for the cheaper option due to the lack of sleep from the lights, bed and banging noises.

If I were you, I would steer clear of this place. It was honestly the worst place we’ve ever stayed in and we’ve stayed in some dodgy places before. An entire week of no sleep was not worth it for the...

Horible aggressive and rude stuff. Stealing my stuff from the room and nasty aggressive demeanor. Probably, they hire mentally unstable individuals through some programs for social adaptation. I went for a walk and came back to the room( only me inside) they just cleaned. My pajama top is gone. It was on the bed 2 hours ago. I went to the reception to ask, and an extremely rude and aggressive older man was visibly irritated by my presence. He didn't listen to me, but Interupt me with "you gotta wait!" Very horible and aggressive vibes. I requested him to calm down that I was waiting. His response:"No, you gotta wait as I gotta call and ask!" I look how he pinches a bottom and says to the cleaning lady:" Sara, there was a pajama on the sheets, and you probably took it when taking the sheets"- a lie. As I am still in the hostel and nobody changed my sheets, they just took my pajama. The check-in man was aggressive he cursed on me last night, smashed things, and acted like drug adict in crisis because I asked help with opening the gate. I asked him to stop cursing and to calm down. I feel like a domestication specialist here. The rooms are clean and tight, but the reception people need psychiatric assistance. They are the reasons for the poor rating because interactions with those individuals feel really unsafe and dangerous. The cleaning ladies are very kind and polite and definitely do great job cleaning. I believe that all the reception stuff must be fired and replaced with mentally stable and adequate individual.

Lazy, rude, careless stuff. I arrived the other night, a young boy with curly hair. He was high. He didn't give me any indication except which door is the room. Once I went, I discovered open windows and heat that burned my leg when I accidentally touched it. I walk back and request a room change. He gave me a key but didn't bother to tell me that the entire building had a heat valve problem and made me walk and discover myself. He was silent and none responding, I wasn't sure if he was deaf. If he was autistic I believe a note should have been put on the window, just to be aware. The shower 🚿 was dirty. Hair, on the ground and really not clean. Room as you see very small, just bad inside. It was really 🔥 not safe. Must sleep with open windows. I will say...